Community Reviews

I can't believe that I left home some time without this book. It's worth more than five stars.

The stories are the best. ‘Why did you play this move when it was so clearly refuted in…’ ‘Well, I was reading the latest 64 in the bath, got to this variation at the bottom of the page and thought, yes, that will do, I’ll play that today. Jumped up, grabbed a towel and…I never did turn the page.’ Or the famous hippopotamus story:

Journalist: It might be inconvenient to interrupt our profound discussion

I can't believe that I left home some time without this book. It's worth more than five stars.

The stories are the best. ‘Why did you play this move when it was so clearly refuted in…’ ‘Well, I was reading the latest 64 in the bath, got to this variation at the bottom of the page and thought, yes, that will do, I’ll play that today. Jumped up, grabbed a towel and…I never did turn the page.’ Or the famous hippopotamus story:

Journalist: It might be inconvenient to interrupt our profound discussion and change the subject slightly, but I would like to know whether extraneous, abstract thoughts ever enter your head while playing a game?

Tal: Yes. For example, I will never forget my game with GM Vasiukov on a USSR Championship. We reached a very complicated position where I was intending to sacrifice a knight. The sacrifice was not obvious; there was a large number of possible variations; but when I began to study hard and work through them, I found to my horror that nothing would come of it. Ideas piled up one after another. I would transport a subtle reply by my opponent, which worked in one case, to another situation where it would naturally prove to be quite useless. As a result my head became filled with a completely chaotic pile of all sorts of moves, and the infamous "tree of variations", from which the chess trainers recommend that you cut off the small branches, in this case spread with unbelievable rapidity. And then suddenly, for some reason, I remembered the classic couplet by Korney Ivanovic Chukovsky:

"Oh, what a difficult job it was. To drag out of the marsh the hippopotamus".

I don't know from what associations the hippopotamus got into the chess board, but although the spectators were convinced that I was continuing to study the position, I, despite my humanitarian education, was trying at this time to work out: just how WOULD you drag a hippopotamus out of the marsh ? I remember how jacks figured in my thoughts, as well as levers, helicopters, and even a rope ladder. After a lengthy consideration I admitted defeat as an engineer, and thought spitefully to myself: "Well, just let it drown!" And suddenly the hippopotamus disappeared. Went right off the chessboard just as he had come on ... of his own accord! And straightaway the position did not appear to be so complicated. Now I somehow realized that it was not possible to calculate all the variations, and that the knight sacrifice was, by its very nature, purely intuitive. And since it promised an interesting game, I could not refrain from making it.

Journalist: : "And the following day, it was with pleasure that I read in the paper how Mikhail Tal, after carefully thinking over the position for 40 minutes, made an accurately-calculated piece sacrifice ...".

All the things he did for fun, like leave his shoes outside his hotel door to look like he was inside, doubtlessly working hard, preparing and then sneaking off to the beach. I love the idea that he has the evil eye when really all he did was care in a different way from others. As Kasparov said, discussing the matter of the return match against Botvinnik:

And, of course, Tal should have prepared differently for the return match. But if he prepared, he wouldn't be Tal. He lived differently, it was simpler to him than to us. From my conversations with Tal, I think he didn't consider the things obvious to us to be of any importance….He didn't even seek the truth in chess, he sought beauty. It was a concept completely different from most of ours.

Kasparov, in the same interview about Tal, recalled this:

GK: Speaking of Tal, I became a world champion on Tal's birthday, November 9th.

EK: On Tal's birthday?

GK: Yes. I remember than on November 8th, before the last game with Karpov, I got calls from my teacher Botvinnik and from Tal, with whom I was on friendly terms. Botvinnik gave me a speech. He was like, "You lead 12:11. No matter what happens, you have proved that this match should have been played". Very stern he was. Tal didn't say anything like that. He just reminded me, "Don't forget, young man, that tomorrow is my birthday".

In case you haven’t heard the sunglasses story, here it is from olimpbase:

Tal was so intimidating in those years that he made seasoned Grandmaster opponents shudder with fear. A case in point is a game played between GM Tal (as Black) and Hungarian GM Pal Benko (as White) at the Interzonal Tournament in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1959. This was the third cycle (the first two were played in Bled and Zagreb, respectively), and Benko was starting to think that Tal had been hypnotizing him due to his poor record against him so far. So Benko took with him sunglasses and wore them while at the chessboard. But Tal, who had heard of Benko's plan to wear sunglasses before the game started, borrowed enormous dark glasses from GM Petrosian. When Tal put on these ridiculously enormous glasses, not only did the spectators laugh, but other participants in the tournament did, as did the tournament controllers, and finally even Benko himself laughed. But unlike Tal, Benko did not remove his glasses until the 20th move when his position was hopeless.

I’m writing this today because last night I watched Tal in a movie. Really. I watched The Falcon and the Snowman and discovered - it hadn't dawned on me before - that my favourite chess player:

is the spitting image of my favourite actor:

Are they not identical?

Karpov mades an appearance as a KGB agent. He plays no chess but he does make a 7 letter word, ‘diagram’, in a Scrabble game. It is so apt for a chess player, surely it was on purpose.

Alanyes what's the 'stlaking' thing about? How does someone stalk someone on GR? Through messages? A GR friend of mine left GR because of that too, I realyes what's the 'stlaking' thing about? How does someone stalk someone on GR? Through messages? A GR friend of mine left GR because of that too, I reallymiss her book recommendations and reviews (although we correspond via email)....more
Mar 04, 2010 04:38AM

notgettingenough Alan wrote: "yes what's the 'stlaking' thing about? How does someone stalk someone on GR? Through messages? A GR friend of mine left GR because of thaAlan wrote: "yes what's the 'stlaking' thing about? How does someone stalk someone on GR? Through messages? A GR friend of mine left GR because of that too, I reallymiss her book recommendations and reviews (al..."

I would imagine there are a variety of ways. Main point is that there isn't a way of stopping an individual from reading your stuff if you don't want them too. I don't see what goodreads could possibly do about it. It really wasn't supposed to sound interesting, it isn't, honestly....more
Mar 04, 2010 05:25AM

Chess these days. You study an opening, work on the details--analyze, analyze--if a position looks so thorny and your grasp of it is suspect, you unleash the Hydra (engine) on it, to get through the maze, remove the cobwebs, assure yourself you won't fall on a trap. It gets dreary and tiresome.

I've read this book many times to remind myself of the beauty of the game of chess. Tal was an artist over the board, his vision was magnificent, his combinations sometimes reel the mind and he seemed to hChess these days. You study an opening, work on the details--analyze, analyze--if a position looks so thorny and your grasp of it is suspect, you unleash the Hydra (engine) on it, to get through the maze, remove the cobwebs, assure yourself you won't fall on a trap. It gets dreary and tiresome.

I've read this book many times to remind myself of the beauty of the game of chess. Tal was an artist over the board, his vision was magnificent, his combinations sometimes reel the mind and he seemed to have savored life the way he would a brilliant game--by enjoying it.

Perhaps this book is the closest thing to capturing Misha Tal's real Life and Games.

Assigning a number of stars to a given book is tricky, since there are so many dimensions to consider. Books can be

1)useful2)"important" within their field3)of high quality4)appealing in general5)appealing to the reviewer, even if he knows that it's an idiosyncratic taste

Then you get Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, which solves the problem by being a five-star book in each category. If going over chess games has any appeal to you whatsoever, you will probably really like this book. Chess books aAssigning a number of stars to a given book is tricky, since there are so many dimensions to consider. Books can be

1)useful2)"important" within their field3)of high quality4)appealing in general5)appealing to the reviewer, even if he knows that it's an idiosyncratic taste

Then you get Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, which solves the problem by being a five-star book in each category. If going over chess games has any appeal to you whatsoever, you will probably really like this book. Chess books are almost never, ever this readable. And the subject matter? Tal is the man. As Botvinnik once said, "I couldn’t make myself dislike him." Tal's personality really comes across in this book. It's hard to imagine someone reading through the whole thing (including the famous Hippo story - google it!) and thinking "Wow, Tal is lame."

Tal is a notoriously creative player, so some might think that only players with similar styles would appreciate the collection. Not so. My style is very little like Tal's - I prioritize looking for and precisely calculating short variations, with few intuitive sacrifices - and I still love going through the games and commentary. What's more, having done so a few times, I realized that some of Tal's style even rubbed off on me a bit.

I expected to give a coherent, detailed review, but I clearly failed. That's how enthusiastic I am about this book. It's one of the few universally well-regarded books that really does live up to its hype. ...more

This is the best chess biography I've ever read. Tal was madly in love with chess, and his enthusiasm for the game is apparent in every page of this love story. You can't help but want to play after reading his infectious game annotations. You want to sacrifice on knight on e6 as soon as possible. Like any good teacher, Tal makes you excited about the subject. When you finish reading, you want to go play.

Tal constantly found a way to inject life into stale, technical positions. He often made theThis is the best chess biography I've ever read. Tal was madly in love with chess, and his enthusiasm for the game is apparent in every page of this love story. You can't help but want to play after reading his infectious game annotations. You want to sacrifice on knight on e6 as soon as possible. Like any good teacher, Tal makes you excited about the subject. When you finish reading, you want to go play.

Tal constantly found a way to inject life into stale, technical positions. He often made the game so mind-bogglingly complicated that no one knew what was going on. He was a chaos pilot, heading into the biggest stormclouds on the horizon in search for something new and wonderful. Most of us like to feel in control, to be safe. Tal liked to explore, to find adventure. He always seemed to ask "what happens if I do this?" Consequently, his games featured sacrifices that were intuitive - based on feelings and aesthetics rather than logic and mathematics.

His child-like curiosity and enthusiasm was combined with a legendary ability to calculate variations. He was, in every sense of the word, a genius. His style was a throwback to the swashbuckling romantics of the 19th century. During the 1940s and 50s, the Soviets were trying to convince everyone that chess was a science. It had rules and laws that had to be followed if one wishes to play proper chess. The world champion, Botvinnik, was in fact a scientist. He promoted research, hard work, and rigorous intellectual exercise. To win at chess, you must build up small, positional advantages and then grind out a win in the endgame due to your superior technique. As Tal says, it sounds like someone saving up his money in order to buy a motorcycle. Where's the fun in that? Let's just play!

It's easy to cheer for our hero as he rises to the top of the chess world. He is a smart, funny, and personable young man. That's what strikes me the most. He is so down-to-earth. You can tell he genuinely wants you enjoy the game as much as he does. It's not just about beating the opponent; it's about creating something new and beautiful for everyone to share in. His reign as World Champion was short lived, as was the man himself. But the fearless genius left us with a treasure trove of brilliant games. He showed that chess can be more than a game, more than science or a mathematical puzzle. It is a form of art. It's a way to gain insight into how someone thinks, how they see thing. It is a glimpse into someone's soul. This book bares the soul of a man who dedicated his life for celebrating beauty and friendship. Buy this, along with his book on the 1960 World Championship against Botvinnik. They are immortal classics. ...more

I don't think that there was ever a more exciting chess player than Mikail Tal. His games were a maelstrom of creativity that would explode with sound (and unsound!) sacrifices that unnerved many of his opponents. And who could forget "The Gaze"! Some of the most interesting games ever played are contained in this volume, along with some great stories by Tal himself.

One of the best chess books every written. Former World Chess Champion Mikhail N. Tal takes on the role of both interviewer and interviewee in this unique autobiographical work. The book includes both annotated and unannotated chess games from both the high and low points of Tal's career.

I spent a long time reading this book, making sure I squeezed every drop of pleasure from it, so to say. And it did not disappoint.

Tal is by far my favourite player (alongside Morozevich, whose style is very similar to Tal, but 'hampered' by modern opening preparation and computers) and it was a pleasure to sit down and play through his games. About half the games I played through over the board myself, setting up the positions and so on. I tried to look at a lot of positions as puzzles, and moI spent a long time reading this book, making sure I squeezed every drop of pleasure from it, so to say. And it did not disappoint.

Tal is by far my favourite player (alongside Morozevich, whose style is very similar to Tal, but 'hampered' by modern opening preparation and computers) and it was a pleasure to sit down and play through his games. About half the games I played through over the board myself, setting up the positions and so on. I tried to look at a lot of positions as puzzles, and most of the time I failed to see the tactical brilliancies that Tal came up with (some sane, most not!). The others I simply played through unaided, but Houdini 3 and the ChessBase database was certainly helpful in retrieving and analysing a lot of the games (going through games in my head is one thing; reviewing variations another, and much too challenging sometimes!).

A wonderful book in any case, spiced with Tal's wit and fascinating and bohemian lifestyle. A true legend of the game, and this book is a legendary chess book for good reason! ...more

Just grab a board and set, a copy of this book, and don't make any plans for a few hours because you're going to be amazed at how fast time gooes by trying to figure out just how Mikhail Tall did this stuff.

You can keep Kasparov and all the modern masters, you can keep the positional guys and the old school romantics.

Tal was just no quarter given no quarter asked, and brilliant enough to back it all up.

Witty and funny, Tal simultaneously gives an account of his chess career through 1975 while also giving us insightful analysis into some of his games. Stylized as a hypothetical conversation between himself and a "journalist", Tal presents himself not as a genius and World Champion, but rather as a likeable, endearing human being to whom we can relate.

“I prefer to make my annotations 'hot on the heels', as it were, when the fortunes of battle, the worries, hopes and disappointments are still sufficiently fresh in my mind. Much as I would like to, I cannot say this about these few games which will be given below. In fact, if the annotator should begin to use phrases of the type: 'in reply to...I had worked out the following variation...', the reader will rightly say 'Grandmaster, you are showing off', since the 'oldest' of these games is now more than 25 years old, and even the 'newest' more than 20. Therefore, I would ask you not to regard the following 'stylised' annotations too severely. ”
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